For the Forensic Molecular Biologist in All of Us

Editor's note: If you ever wanted to let your inner molecular biologist come out to play, or simply find out if your take-out food has been genetically modified, you'll want to have this polymerase chain reaction kit – called OpenPCR – at your disposal.

You’ve heard of the CSI effect, right? It’s this wacky “syndrome” whereby we’ve watched so much CSI Miami and Law and Order that we can’t fully put our weight behind a verdict without some solid DNA evidence. I guess it’s easy to forget that we had an entire legal system sans DNA for quite a while. In any case, we’ve apparently got an itch to be a bunch of white-coated forensic scientists, which is why we’re so lucky that this crazy, and also beautiful, machine exists in the world.